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Dortmund sing in the Hoffenheim rain

vor 2 Stunden

Mario Götze's (r.) near-post strike gave Dortmund the lead at the Rhine-Neckar-ArenaHowever, Hoffenheim's Sven Schipplock levelled proceedings against the run of playKevin Großkreutz (r.) restored the champions' advantage as Dortmund upped the ante in the second halfWith no response forthcoming from the hosts, Robert Lewandowski (r.) was able to round off a comprehensive victory with his tenth of the campaign

The BVB midfielder opened the scoring and played his part in a rare Kevin Großkreutz goal before Robert Lewandowski secured Jürgen Klopp's men a first win in three on another miserable afternoon for Hoffenheim who, Sven Schipplock's equaliser aside, never looked like taking anything from the game.

Out of position

With only 55 minutes' prior experience in the left-back position, Jakub Blaszczykowski was chosen to replace the sinusitis-stricken Marcel Schmelzer. The Pole certainly had little to do defensively in the early stages as Dortmund made a beeline for the Hoffenheim goal from the word go, with Götze looking to get at USA international Fabian Johnson at every given opportunity.

When Hoffenheim did break, Schipplock found Dortmund's defensive rock Mats Hummels in unshakeable mood. The Germany international again found himself preoccupied with the Sinsheim club's No9 moments later, allowing Marvin Compper to meet Sebastian Rudy's left-wing free-kick and send a looping header narrowly over the top.

Surprise equaliser

A warning shot of sorts, it was never going to deter Klopp's free-flowing charges. Moritz Leitner picked out Götze, who spied an opening on the edge of the area, cut inside Andreas Beck and snuck a fierce effort in at Koen Casteels' near post to take his personal Bundesliga tally to previously unseen heights of six for the season.

Hoffenheim's Kevin Volland had posted the same number of assists prior to the game, and made it his job to get the hosts back into the contest. His first attempt came within seconds of Dortmund taking the lead, but his second was right on the money as Schipplock rounded off a swift passing move to level ten minutes before half time.

Lewandowski seals it

Unsurprisingly, Dortmund stuck to their attack-centred game plan as Marco Reus and Hummels forced the very best out of Casteels, before restoring their lead in the 58th minute. Götze picked out Reus, who unselfishly slid in Großkreutz for his first Bundesliga goal in ten months.

The signs weren't looking good for Frank Kramer's strugglers, who fell even further behind when Lewandowski turned Matthieu Delpierre inside-out and lashed home his tenth Bundesliga goal of the season eight minutes later. Dortmund eased off the gas thereafter, with the gap on league leaders FC Bayern now reading a slightly more palatable twelve points.